A huge development, which has the potential to be the jewel of Midtown is heading to the old bus lands on the SW quadrant of Yonge & Eglinton. Thanks to a diverse and dedicated working group, there is now a comprehensive plan for the site. Instead of tall office and condo towers, a big park, a K-8 school, spaces for arts and music, tech-incubators, day care, meeting halls, a college or university and affordable housing are being proposed.
JULY 16TH CITY COUNCIL VOTE
UPDATE
Dear Neighbours:
Thanks to all of you who wrote almost 400 letters of appeal to move forward the visionary plan for Canada Square! On June 28, the Planning and Housing Committee discussed holding off final approval of Oxford’s proposal until city officials have finished assessing the implications of our report. EPRA, our allies, three local councillors and others supporting our cause were successful in convincing the PHC to refer this matter to City Council on July 14. Our mass of letters will surely influence the discussion.
We are attaching, for your information, a new article from Novae Res Urbis – a journal for planners, which is widely read. It lays out the story very clearly. Hopefully, it will strengthen our case even further.
Epra
1. SOME BACKGROUND
Midtown Toronto is experiencing EXPLOSIVE residential growth — buildings rising, buildings approved, buildings imagined, or not yet thought of. We will be in construction mode for the next decade or longer!
And we were already growing far too big when the provincial government made things worse, allowing yet more density and height (OPA 405) than a City-led plan (Midtown in Focus Plan) had envisioned.
By the CITY’S own new forecast (not yet reckoning in OPA 405), Yonge-Eglinton Centre will by 2051, grow from 19,000 to 49,000 residents: two-and-a-half-fold. The full Yonge-Eglinton Secondary Plan area (down to Davisville, over to Bayview) will increase from 62,000 to 123,000 residents – doubling the current population. During all this population growth, we have seen almost no increase in schools, daycares, community facilities, parks, green open spaces, cultural facilities, or new work spaces.
SO WHY TELL YOU WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW?
There is a whole City-owned block at the southwest corner of Yonge-Eglinton (9 acres) long overdue for redevelopment: CANADA SQUARE. It is currently a TTC site, with lots of commercial and work space. With the LRT, it will soon be one of our premiere transportation hubs. With piles of empty space on the site there is finally a chance to improve our quality of life — not just for midtown, but for all Toronto!
A PERFECT LOCATION FOR A NEW TOWN CENTRE FOR MIDTOWN AND FOR THE CITY!
Now here is the kicker … the City in 2019 signed a 99-year agreement including the option for another 99 with Oxford Properties to develop the whole site. Oxford plans to replace only part of the commercial space. It does propose ample open space between tall towers, but most of it is privately owned. It offers almost no indoor community space, and the developer wants to fill most of the towers (80%) with apartments for another 5,000 residents. No affordable units are included thus far.
2. WHAT WE DID
With your backing and the help of Councillors Matlow, Colle, and Robinson, we won three things:
- A temporary pause of the Oxford application
- Disclosure of the confidential Agreement between the City and Oxford and other Parties
- An opportunity for the community to prepare our VISION AND PRIORITIES for the Canada Square site
Then, with the assistance of City staff, our three Councillors, the local School Trustees and our Community Working Group prepared a COMMUNITY VISION AND PRIORITIES for the Canada Square block– “Imagining a New Town Centre for Midtown Toronto”. Here is a link to the report.
Eglinton Park Residents' Association 